Login with tumblr API

[Balaji Kanakasabapathy]

Hello all,
I'm a newbie to android programming and a long time user of tumblr. Recently I had an idea that I want to develop into an android app. However I'm not clear as to whether the API will allow other users to log in, or whether only I(with my OAuth Keys) can login and access my blogs following lists. If it is possible to let other users to login, kindly enlighten me as to how that is done.

Thanks in advance.

[Michael Ceyko]

Hey Balaji,

Tumblr uses standard three-legged OAuth 1.0a, which is specifically designed to allow users to login with your application. In OAuth terms, it allows a Consumer (you, the developer) to access a Service Provider (Tumblr) on behalf of a User. So, yes, once the user authorizes your application, you will effectively be able to access tumblr as if you were that user.

You might want to read a bit more about OAuth to better understand how it works before working on integrating with Tumblr's OAuth servers. Check out the OAuth Bible  and an informative blog post for an overview of OAuth. You can also look at the RFC and technical spec if that's more of your thing.

Once you're familiar with the process, you'll want to check out some Android OAuth libraries. Signpost is one that comes to mind, but you should also look at what other ones are frequently used. Once you have OAuth implemented, you should be able to start using our jumblr library, jumping in with your keys and tokens as shown at the top of the readme.

Hope this helps get your started!

Regards,

Mike Ceyko